presidential politicking. that's what makes "what it takes" such a classic. it's not really about one presidential race. it's about six people who happened to run in one race. a to know and understand them is to know and understand presidential politics in a whoa new way. richard ben cramer brought us that knowledge and understanding with "what it takes." even though he's gone students years from now will benefit from him so much as many already have. that does it for "the cycle." martin, bashir it's yours. walmart rolls back and concedes to public pressure quickly. ♪ >> it's critically important we act. >> one month after the newtown, connecticut, tragedy the vice president is taking on gun violence today. >> every once in awhile there's

something that wakens the conscience of the country. >> why do you need an assault weapon? you know 90% of hunters think you don't need an assault weapon. >> i've also invited the gun owners and the nra to come and make their case as well. >> walmart will, indeed, attend joe biden's task force meetings. >> the president and i are determined to take action. >> assault weapons are the drunk driving in a prohibition debate. >> the governor is prospected to propose a ban. >> i'm convinced we can affect the well being of millions of americans. >> there's more holes in these laws than a piece of swiss cheese. >> every once in awhile something wakens the conscience of a country. ♪ with an end of month

deadline fast approaching, this week could mark a pivotal moment in the effort to curb gun violence in america. today vice president joe biden began a series of meetings hosting victims, groups, and gun safety organizations at the white house. referring to the massacre of innocent children in newtown, connecticut, the vice president said this is now a moral issue. >> seeing those and learning of those young children not only being shot but riddled with bullets just -- it's a -- every once in awhile there's something that awakens the conscience of a the country. >> with that in mind and as the white house plans to host groups including the nra on thursday, the vice president said something has to give. >> we are not going to get caught up in the notion unless we can do everything we're going to do nothing. the president is going to act. there are executive orders, executive action that can be taken. we haven't decided what that is

yet. as well as legislative action, we believe is required. >> now, that reference to executive order prompted right wing media hysteria within minutes. the drudge report posting their headline with pictures of hitler and stalin. a thoughtful approach. but the biden meeting has, in fact, spurred at least one common sense change of heart from a gun retailer. walmart, the nation's largest seller of munitions had cited a scheduling conflict and refusing the invitation. after an outcry, they say they will send a representative. such as the infa mus ar-15 semiautomatic rifle. apparently they've rearranged schedules and found a way to handle that roll back by redeploying one of their other 2.2 million employees. let's get to our panel. here in new york is steven

barton who's a survivor of the aurora, colorado, movie theater shooting. now working with mayors against illegal guns. and in washington, democratic strategist julian epstein. and msnbc political analyst professor michael eric dyson. welcome to you all. steven, i have to start with you as someone himself was wounded. you showed me the injuries below your collar. and you heard yesterday in the preliminary hearings in aurora of a 911 call which lasted 27 seconds and featured 33 bullets being fired. i suppose you must be grateful that walmart changed its mind and decided to attend the white house. >> oh, of course. and, you know, that 911 call, what that shows really is the lethality of the weapons we're dealing with here. and pressuring organizations like walmart, like the nra, even congress is going to be crucial to this debate and to getting

some common sense reform. >> and i'm assuming that you've been doubly impacted because you grew up just five minutes, ten minutes from sandy hook elementary school. so you know that area very well. you know the school. >> yeah. i know people who worked in that school. and who passed away. and so this -- i mean, this issue is obviously of great importance to me personally. i think it affects us all equally. whether we're personally shot or we know people who have been shot and effected by gun violence. if one person dies, we all have a problem. >> julian, mass murders tend to grab the headlines as you know. but we've been tracking the daily gun violence in this country. and just in the last 24 hours two women killed in front of a senior home in tamarac, florida. in chicago one man killed another seriously wounded outside a store. in dallas a marriage with a

history of violence came to an end when a man shot and killed his wife we've seen increased public pressure in recent weeks, but can we hope to see that extend to real action? >> i think we can. and that is the $64,000 question here. as you have pointed out, not just the incidents in the last couple days, but since newtown, we've seen 643 gun deaths. as we said before the the show, it's an equivalent of a jumbo jet airliner going down every week in this country. and the president is clearly taking the leadership. all the indications we have right now is the legislation is going to be comprehensive on assault weapons, clips, and background checks. they're looking at a number of administrative. >> reporter: do you really believe that? do you really believe the president is going to offer a comprehensive series of measures? or don't you think that he's likely to take what politically

might be feasible given what we have in terms of a difficult congress? >> i think the president is stepping up to the plate here. i think the president is going to be bold. i think the politics of this issue are beginning to change. if you look at what andrew cuomo did today. in his speech he's calling for a whole host of reforms including a real fundamental reforms when it comes to gun registries. i think the question is how much political pressure can a popular movement be brought to bear on the legislative process. that is the question. and it's not just -- the media has a major role. this network in particular, this show has shown a large amount. we also have to see organizations like for example families usa, the biggest health care lobbying organization -- progressive health care lobbying organization in the country. this is one of the biggest public health issues we have. where are groups like move on.org? the anti-war group.

given the amount of carnage on the streets. we need so see these other organizations get engaged. this is no question i think when you look at the politics -- how the politics are changing on this. i cited what cuomo just did. there's no question you can break the back of the gun manufacturers lobby if you see this kind of massive coalescing of a public effort here. people also need to do things like writing checks. i'm going to be writing checks to these gun violence organizations who are doing very important work. other people watching this show need to be able to do the same. but at the end of the day, it's how big of a public popular movement we get going here. >> professor dyson, julian mentioned andrew cuomo who today called frd his state to pass the toughest assault weapon ban in the country. judging by what we saw earlier by the judge report, i guess he's joining the ranks of hitler and stalin for his effort to prevent children and innocent victims from being slaughtered. >> yeah. it really is rather ridiculous.

and egregious that there is a parallel drawn between people who want sensible reform. these are not people who want to repudiate or to reject the second amendment. these are not people who want to undermine the capacity of americans to engage freely in hunting and the like. they are simply saying what does a hunter need with an assault weapon? yogi the bear will not go down with clips and strips and drums the likes of which have been unleashed on to the cities of american society and in the urban areas as well. the reality is we need a check on our own hubris as a nation to believe that we can enjoy unlimited freedoms that have no check of responsibility held against them and that the price we will pay for that is the death of our children. and let's be honest, your show among many others on msnbc has highlighted the fact that this is a scourge on all of our homes and nations. >> every single day of every

week. every single day. >> and the reality is in black and brown communities even more so. but it's invisible and it's inaudible. we don't hear it and we don't see it because it doesn't effect us. because of newtown which was a heinous act of extraordinary evil and tragedy, it then highlights the other forms of heinousness and evil that go on that have not been exposed. and i think at least this will be able to give us a kind of launching pad to talk about some sensible reform in the face of extraordinary and complicated tragedies the likes of which we saw in newtown. >> stephen, the preliminary hearing for the accused aurora shooter james holmes ended today with some self-portraits that he took. these are some sketches showing the premeditation of the act. that included buying -- get this -- 6300 rounds of ammunition. that he brought with him to that

theater. now, gun advocates keep telling me and keep telling us that there is nothing you can do to stop this. there is no law. there is no mechanism to prevent it. but when you see the volume of ammunition that that individual took to that movie theater, that's just nonsense. of course things can be done. >> of course. and, you know, it's not that easy. it's not that hard to imagine many different measures that would help regulate guns and to prevent this sort of violence. you know, on one hand there's an assault weapons ban. but also improving our background check system. there are so many holes in the system at the moment that it's just so easy for felons, dangerously mentally ill, drug abusers, it's easy for anyone to purchase a gun through private sales loophole. it's a measure that is greated upon by even nra members. a july poll by frank lunde showed that 74% of nra members

support having a background check for every gun sale. the nra leadership won't tell you that. they don't reflect the views of even their own members. >> julian, a study after the aurora shooting found much support for specific gun control measures. nearly all support background checks. a majority back a ban on semiautomatics and high capacity magazines. and yet the gun lobby screams that this is the beginning of some kind of governmental reign of terror when the people are expressing their views, are they not? >> right. and i think there's two points there. again, there is enormous public support for these measures. the question is whether these populous and progressive organizations and the infrastructure that they have at their disposals can begin to get the legislatures to follow up on

public will here. secondly, the nra argument as stephen and michael were eluding to, there have been dozens perhaps hundreds of challenges to gun laws that are on the books across the country. and nearly every single one of them have failed. there is virtually no case law on the federal books right now that says any of these gun measures under consideration would be -- when they say this encroaches on second maemt rights, they have no understand of what the constitution provides for in this area and they have no idea what they're talking about. >> professor dyson, a final word to you. do you think that this may be the most challenging thing that the president will have to do in this term? because we talk about the fights over the fiscal cliff. we talk about fights over the

debt ceiling. but let's be frank. this is going to take some courage from him, isn't it? >> it really is. this is about a mortality clip. not a clip you slip into your gun, but the kind of pace at which we proceed in this nation believing that we are somehow immortal or we are beyond the call of our own common humanity to the cries of children muffled with gunfire that is so rapid and automatic that it leaves in its trail an enormous and hey nous carnage. the president has to say enough is enough. he must be our voice piece. the voice of the people speaks through his own voicebox right now. and he must articulate our outrage, our desire to see something done. and to exercise the leverage he has as president whether as julian said an executive order or ginning up the kind of protest against the outrageousness of the nra or galvanizing the sentiments of this nation to finally say look

we have paid the ultimate price. we are talking about abortion, of mortgaging the future. what about the explicit denienl of life to millions of young people as a result of the pregnancy presence of guns in our culture. that's what the president must do. >> thank you so much, all of you. next, aig says they don't want to sue the american people for bailing them out, but they almost had to. stay with us. >> i've sentenced boys younger than you to the gas chamber. didn't want to do. felt i owed it to them. ♪ i have a cold, and i took nyquil,

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the year's only eight days old, but this is the largest corporate pr blunder of the year so far. >> the news aig is hearing arguments whether or not it should join a lawsuit over the terms of its bailout four years ago. goolsbee may have summed it up best. remember the crook that broke his leg robbing a house then sued them for negligence on safety? yes, well, he's now aig's general counsel. joining us is msnbc.com's executive producer richard wolffe. congressman, if i begin with you, aig made the decision it will not join the lawsuit. i'd like your thoughts on that. because today the ceo was doing damage control tweeting that the company was, and i'm quoting him, legally obligated to hear the demand of its largest

shareholder. but that was a slap in the face of the american people. >> well, that's mr. greenberg who ran that company into the ground. the taxpayer be damned. the shareholder be damned. it was a $182 billion bailout. aig became the poster corporation for greed, reckless self-dealing. then they wanted to sue the taxpayer that put this money up, saved them so they could be still in existence, and get i think $22 billion more in, quote, profits. you can't make that stuff up. >> you can't. this is true. richard, have you ever seen the intensity of anger and ire expressed towards wall street as we've seen over the last 24 hours? >> well, it was worse for awhile. aig and the banks and even the auto companies was subject to much, much worse at the time of these bailouts. let's be clear.

one of the ways this comes back is they have not learned their lessons. and the financial markets do this all the time. they came out of the dot-com bubble and said we'll never do that again and went into the housing bubble. this is a repeated pattern. from aig you get they're not joining the lawsuit. but the shareholders are saying we were robbed. if the company had gone under, their shares would have been precisely zero. the bailout gave them any residual value and they have not learned the lessons. that is greed. and also incompetence. these people are stupid beyond belief. and as shareholder they still don't know what risks they've got. >> right. congressman, this episode has focused people as richard was saying on the 2008 financial crisis. and calls for breaking up the big banks. robert reich says the five biggest banks had 47% of all deposits before the crisis. now it's 44%.

i mean, do you find increasing support for this idea of actually controlling and limiting the size of some of these banks? >> yes. i mean, the answer is yes. you know, the smaller banks are actually doing more lending. that's what's really essential. what has happened is that the financial system used to be in service of the productive economy. and bankers felt good if they helped the small business create a few jobs. they felt good if a homeowner bought their first home. now the productive economy is in service of the financial sector. it's upside down. and breaking them up where you literally go back to banking for what it is intended to do and that's help our capitalistic economy be strong, create jobs, help folks get into their first homes, that's a good deal. >> but congressman, isn't there a problem here that the government has actually allowed most of these banks to get off with portry fined in their terms because they have plenty of

assets to pay them. we haven't seen a single criminal conviction of anybody. and the result of that is they carry on doing the stupid and reckless things they've done in the past. i mean, when is the government going to act against these people? >> well, that's exactly right. in fact, we blew it. during the clinton years we got rid of stooeg el and allowed to become too big to fail. that was a governmental policy republicans and democrats voted for and we blew it. and then when it was too big to fail and where we had that opportunity to impose some conditions and the conditions by the way should have been simple. it's like you guys have a job to do and it's to lend to the productive economy. and we could have curbed they bonuses to just create fury among taxpayers. would be much better off. so i think that there's got to be a renewed interest in trying to take steps to break these banks down not just because of

the size but because when they get this pick, there's not only a risk to the economy, but they don't do the job we need the financial system to do and that's to lend to the productive economy. >> and finally, richard, the fact wall street gives so much money to politicians, is there ever going to be a likelihood of the politicians taking action against the banks? >> the obama administration missed their opportunity. president obama told me that they just did not expect the banking sector to bounce back as quickly as it did. right they were. they were on their death bed and suddenly they had massive profitability. and the window closed before the white house and the pressutreas really understood it was there. that was a huge missed opportunity. it's not just what they give to the politicians, it's their lobbying operations. you have people who are managing lobbying operations, who are part of government. it becomes very difficult to do it once that window is closed and the systemic risks that the congressman talked about are

still there. >> congressman peter welch and richard wolffe, thank you both so much. stay with us. much more ahead. >> thank you. ♪ what do we want to build next ? that's the question. every day. when you have the most advanced tools, you want to make something with them. something that helps. helps safeguard our shores. helps someone see through a wall of fire. helps those nowhere near the right doctor stand a chance. ... feeling in the extremities ? no. technology can do that. who can tell me the third life cycle stage of the frog ? it can take a sick kid to school. nathan. tadpole. and help ensure a constant supply of clean energy. the things we build share one belief.

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i'm up next, but now i'm singing the heartburn blues.

hold on, prilosec isn't for fast relief. cue up alka-seltzer. it stops heartburn fast. ♪ oh what a relief it is! from nixon's wisdom and the rise of chris christie to more guns and ammo. here are today's top lines. the chuck stops here. >> when a small thing is there, deal with it. you know it's going to become big and then it may destroy you. >> we need to be thinking about doing something different. >> cockroaches more popular than members of congress. root canals, also more popular. >> take the reins of the republican party.

you doing to do it? >> the only reason you get this attention is if you're doing your job well. >> i can't think of something more opposite than theedly. >> one of the women is tamara, the no drama baby momma. >> i spent a career holding an m 4. >> these all the weapons, we don't have that right. >> when it hits the body, the devastation is terrible. >> do you still feel that way? >> no. >> if we don't deal with the substance abuse issues and the mental illness issues -- >> we have no national data base of these lunatics. >> i was going to say compassionate care of mental -- lunatic data base. isn't that what the internet is? >> the president is going to enact the executive order that can be taken. >> there's no question that limiting your second amendment rights is priority one for sheriff joe. >> there's a day, place, time for all that. >> it's today. right now.

>> the latest high-profile cabinet nominee from president obama. >> the president somewhat reluctantly adopted that and it succeeded. senator hagel called it the biggest blunder since the vietnam war. >> someone that holds mourdock-esque. >> send you back to vietnam. >> let's get right to our panel now. the second hour of the cycle. i'm joined by krystal ball and toure who love to eat up my time period on this network. >> what's wrong with that? >> absolutely. i'm accepting you'll soon do that. krystal, we've heard just now about the resignation of hilda solis. it's just been announced. the president has responded and accepted her resignation. but how much does this resignation put pressure on him in terms of the diversity issues with his cabinet? because he's already been

criticized for a lack of diversity. now we've lost another woman. >> his cabinet is looking pretty brotastic. it bothers me. >> i think it bothers a lot of people. >> i give the president credit. he has more women in his cabinet than say george w. bush. but. >> of course he did nominate two supreme court judges who are women. >> and we vould remember his first choice for secretary of state was susan rice, a woman. i understand they're looking at each individual individually and looking at candidates saying who is the person we want. but you also have to look at the team holistically and say how is this team going to work together. i am concerned from that perspective. having diversity and people who come from different backgrounds, makes for better decision making. when i see the same type of person in terms of their demographics being nominated for

position after position, i hope that he is looking in future appointments to include more diversity because i think it will make the country and the decision making process stronger. >> to krystal's point, take a look at this picture from today's "new york times." it was taken late last month. and it features the president's senior advisers. and other than valerie jarrett who i believe is hidden in the photo, all the president's men. >> yes. you can just barely see her leg behind the man in the blue shirt in the middle there. diversity is its own reward. we don't just want women just to fill a quota. >> that's not what she was saying. >> not at all. to her point, diverse is its own reward. diverse bodies will make better decisions. when we see a congress representing america, that will make better decisions for america. people from different walks of life will come together in a body and make better decisions

than a madmen group of people. we as america are losing out not having a divorce cerse cabinet. >> that was reflective of the way they voted this president in. krystal, moving on to chuck hagel. he's been described as you know as a homophobic anti-semitic lover of hamas. doesn't this come down to where he said this about the pentagon. it is bloated and needs to be pared down. that's his greatest sin isn't it? >> that is one of them. i think the other was questioning the iraq war and eventually coming out and opposing the iraq war and saying after he cast the vote in favor of the iraq war, coming back and saying you know what? this was the wrong move. that created a lot of animosity. and we have seen criticism from the left. i do want to see a confirmation

process. i want to know how he'll behave towards lbgt members of the military. >> and he has already apologized for those statements. >> absolutely. absolutely. but the charges that -- i mean, the thing that has really been ludicrous is because he hasn't been with mccain and lieberman an every vote in israel, not only is his anti-israel, he's anti-semitic. i think that shuts down any debate on the topic. >> had a change of heart as he was saying on the iraq war. and as peter binehart writes on the daily beast, the former vietnam rifleman realized that detached and self-interested elites were sending working class kids like himself to die in a war they couldn't defend. at the heart of the opposition to hagel is the fear he would do what republicans thus far have

largely defended. bring america's experiences in the iraqi and afghanistan into the iran debate. isn't he right there? that basically they're worried that hagel won't be as bombastic as they'd like people to be in the government about iran. >> absolutely. we've seen this play out. is it valuable to have a soldier at the top of defense in commander in chief role or to have a non-soldier in charge of the military? and i've seen people say both sides. i've heard from a lot of soldiers this week, people who have served and said soldiers who people have seen war like a hagel and kerry are far less likely to send soldiers into harm's way. i've also been reading about jfk who learned after the bay of pigs having a soldier advising him makes him come up. because they are not likely to want soldiers to fight. they'll want to do those things.

>> but isn't the antidote. for the policy. they're going to be working with the president on what he wants to do and his goals. you're not going to see a mass i have difference in what we see out of defense or the state based on who's there. it's who's in the oval if that makes the difference. >> can i raise one other drn i see with the team coming together on foreign policy. hagel and kerry and biden an the president. they're all very close. they have close personal relationships. that's a good thing. they also seem to view the world in a similar way and be inclined to make serious decisions which in a way is a good thing. but we're talking about diversity in terms of demographics. i think it would be good to have some diversity in terms of world view and approach. which it's interesting, you know, republicans really opposed

obviously susan rice and they got their wish for john kerry. susan rice is actually more hawkish than john kerry. she's much more in line with their foreign policy views than he is. so it's sort of ironic that in getting the guy they wanted they got a less interventionist policy. >> you're already in your second hour. i wish we had more time. >> make it happen. it's your show. do what you want to do. next, the worst governor in america. if you're living in his state, you know exactly who i'm talking about. stay with us. ♪ [ washer and dryer sounds ] for the things you can't wash, freshen them with febreze. ♪ because febreze doesn't just cover up odors... it penetrates deep into fabrics to eliminate odors and leaves a light, fresh scent.

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in these dark days of partisan gridlock, if you're looking for something that republicans and democrats can agree on, then look no further than the governor of florida, mr. rick scott. his approval ratings have been stuck in the 30s making him the least popular republican governor in the country. and with good reason.

under his leadership the state has been accused of warehousing disabled children in nursing homes in order to save money on the costs of in-home care. headlines from the miami herald reads a florida mom's fight for her disabled son. another reads a child's sad death in a florida nursing home. these tragic stories stem from rank hypocrisy. back in 2011 just hours after scott participated at a special olympics event, the governor ordered cuts of up to 40% in programs for the disabled. joining us now is democratic congressman allan grayson of florida. welcome. and congratulations on your re-election. >> thank you. >> congressman, governor scott has repeatedly turned down the offer of federal funds that would allow parents to care for their children at home. in the interest of transparency,

we cared for my own disabled brother at home until he died. but florida has planned structured and administered a system of care that has led to the unnecessary separation and isolation of hundreds of children in nursing facilities. congressman, what kind of person is it that chooses to target the most defenseless and weakest members of our society? >> a sick, cruel, sadistic person who happened to be elected governor despite the fact that he committed the largest fraud against medicare in our history. i have to tell you that sometimes the judgment of the voters is almost inexplicable. we've taken somebody who has an appalling record, a callousness to him that's manifested, dishonesty that's manifest and we made him governor of the

third largest state in the country. the results is shocking. you say maybe tony sparano could have done worse. maybe not. it's hard to say. >> you use tony sparano as an example, sir, but i was reminded of nicolai in romania where kids were hidden and housed in the most appalling conditions. now, of course that's an extreme example. but is this his preference for disabled children in america in 2013 that you house these disabled children in facilities away from their families? >> well, it seems that it is. either that or he's under this bizarre misconception just because he has $2 billion in his bank account, so does everybody else. he's preying on the most vulnerable people in our society. not just children, but sick children, disabled children. children desperate for help just to stay alive. a certain number of them are

going to die because of this cruelty. like many right wingers in this country, he has an enormous capacity for pain as long as it's somebody else's. >> what is his theoretical justification for what he's doing in separating disabled children from their families? what's his justification? >> well, the justification is the usual one that is somehow or other we're desperate to save money. therefore we have to toss women and children out first into the ocean. it's wrong but it's nothing new. it's typical. back in 2004 when jeb bush was governor, the republicans saw there was a waiting list of almost 100,000 children for kid care, our children's health insurance program for children in florida. so to deal with that, the republicans eliminated the list. >> nice work. this appears to be a strategic pattern for governor scott. this week he met with health and human services kathleen

sebelius. he says the implementation will cost $26 billion to expand the state's medicaid program. politifact says it will cost $1 billion. so is governor scott both callous and a liar? >> it's a blood libel and it's tragic. we have 20% of the state that doesn't have any health coverage at all. among latinos, it's 40%. we have 4 million people in florida who can't see a doctor when they're sick thanks to the expansion of the medicaid program that i voted in favor of almost half of those people will be able to see a doctor when they're sick unless the governor prevents it. and the federal government picks up every dollar of the expense of doing that for the first three years of the program. then after that point, the states can opt out. so it's sadistic, it's tragic it's disgusting and cruel. >> thank you for joining us.

>> thank you. next, another shakeup on the president's second term team. that's ahead. but first sue herrera has the market wrap. good afternoon. >> good afternoon. thank you. here's a look at how stocks stand going into tomorrow morning's session. the dow jones industrial average up 61 points. the standard & poor's up 4. and the nasdaq up 14. that's it from cnbc, first in business worldwide. martin is back after a quick break. ♪ [ indistinct shouting ] ♪ [ indistinct shouting ] [ male announcer ] time and sales data. split-second stats. [ indistinct shouting ] ♪ it's so close to the options floor... [ indistinct shouting, bell dinging ] ...you'll bust your brain box.

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more now on the news this hour. the labor secretary hilda solis is leaving the obama administration. the president released a statement describing her as a champion for working families after she submitted her

resignation. pete, another woman departs the administration as the president is already facing criticism for a white male predominance i guess you'd call it in his cabinet. it appears the white house is now facing a challenge it might not have expected to diversify its personnel. do you get that sense? >> i think you do. you can tell the white house is feeling the heat for a variety of reasons. not the least of which there was a photograph taken december 29th it was printed on the cover of this morning's "new york times." that certainly people here at the white house saw. this is the picture -- this was the picture you're looking at now that was put out today as the white house tweet of the day. which appeared to be in reaction to another photo that had been put out only a couple weeks ago. this photo shows three women in the picture. this one you now see is from a couple weeks ago. you see jay carney in the middle. timothy gieter in. there are almost no women in

that shot. and that's what created this question today. jay carney the press secretary was peppered with questions about the issue of women and diversity in the white house saying specifically that diversity is important to this president. he referred to a specific number which is 43% saying that 43% of the appointees by this president have been women in the course of his time inside the white house. that is a better figure than the bush white house and about even with bill clinton's numbers when he was here. >> right. even as the white house did release that cabinet photo as you pointed it out, how much of a second term priority can this be given all of the things that the president is trying to address at this moment? not least all of the economic challenges and the fights that are to come plus the issue of guns and gun violence. >> well, the white house has long said the president, jay carney and others made it clear they believe this white house and this administration should reflect the people of america. should look a lot like the

people of the united states. here at the white house the ratio is near even between men and women. and they're hoping that's a number they can spread out throughout the course of all departments in thinker administration. >> peter alexander. thanks so much. and we'll be right back. i have a cold, and i took nyquil, but i'm still "stubbed" up. [ male announcer ] truth is, nyquil doesn't unstuff your nose. what? [ male announcer ] it doesn't have a decongestant. no way. [ male announcer ] sorry. alka-seltzer plus fights your worst cold symptoms plus has a fast acting decongestant to relieve your stuffy nose. [ sighs ] thanks! [ male announcer ] you're welcome. that's the cold truth! [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus. ♪ oh what a relief it is! ♪ [ male announcer ] to learn more about the cold truth and save $1 visit alka-seltzer on facebook.

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how does it work? you just have to eat it as part of your heart healthy diet. step 1. eat the soup. all those veggies and beans, that's what may help lower your cholesterol and -- well that's easy [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. it's time now to clear the air. while the vice president continues to hold meetings with all parties concerned about gun violence, one individual in typical fashion has decided to launch out on his own. at a press conference that begun just an hour ago, america's self-styled toughest sheriff, the notorious human rights ignoring joe arpaio of arizona has announced his armed volunteer posse will begin patrolling around 50 schools in the phoenix area starting today. now, you might think the presence of the posse would provide reassurance. but instead it's spreading fear and anxiety amongst parents and

children. that's because they know sheriff joe as a man who seeks publicity. why else would he subject inmates sleeping in tents when temperatures regularly reach 140 degrees. and where one elderly inmate recently died in his open air bunk. but i digress, the reason parents and children are petrified is for the last six years sheriff joe has ordered a series of preposterous raids on latino neighborhoods. involving a battalion of squad cars, helicopters, horses, and uniformed posse members. all in an effort to round up a few undocumented workers. now, since hispanic children makep